Third graders plant pine trees

May 23, 2013

Richard Finkel, a volunteer with Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF), spent Monday, May 20, showing and helping Emily Wells' third grade class at Sanibel School plant trees on the school grounds near the skate park.

It brings to a close the year long Tree Project Study Finkel conducted for the class. It's the third year for the program at the school and he intends to do it again next school year, too.

The program allowed the children to decide what kind of tree they would plant at the end. They researched trees and took a couple of field trips to SCCF's Pick Preserve across Sanibel Captiva Road from the school to see the kind of trees they were studying in their native habitat.

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JIM LINETTESanibel School third grader Jillian Cajigas smooths out the soil around the slash pine three she just planted.

JIM LINETTESCCF volunteer Richard Finkel shows Sanibel third graders how to plant a pine tree. Finkel and the class planted 18 trees, one for each student, to finish a year long study of trees.

The class decided on the slash pine tree for their project.

"Each student was given a slash pine tree at the beginning of the school year, provided by SCCF's Native Plant Nursery," said Finkle. "The measured, graphed and determined average height of the trees."

During the year, they researched the project with creative writing exercises on their own tree as well as native trees they observed and studied along Pick's Preserve natiure trail.

Students later transplanted them into pots and 18 trees, one for each student, went into the ground last week. Now they can observe the trees as they grow over the rest of their time at Sanibel School and point out which one had their name on it.

SCCF is dedicated to the conservation of coastal habitats and aquatic resources on the islands through education, land acquisition, marine research, natural resource policies, the nursery, and sea turtle conservation and wildlife habitat management.

Donations are appreciated to help support these educational programs. For more information call (239) 472-2329.